OU Softball: Oklahoma Sweeps Texas in Run-Rule Fashion on Sunday
NORMAN — Oklahoma didn’t need a repeat of Saturday’s late show to sweep Texas.
Tiare Jennings’ three-run shot in the second inning put OU on top, and the top-ranked Sooners didn’t let up.
"She is heating up at the right time," Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso said. "She's kind of excited about that. Seeing the ball really well."
Oklahoma scored in five different innings and blew out Texas 10-2 in six innings to close out the series Sunday at Marita Hynes Field.
Gasso’s Sooners moved to 33-1 on the year with the victory, and the No. 9 Longhorns dropped to 30-8-1.
"Very proud of this team today," Gasso said. "Yesterday after that close game (a three-run rally in the bottom of the seventh), the way we pulled it out, could have been a day where they came in just kind of reeling still from the night before. But they came out ready to play.
" ... So, just a good team weekend. It is tough to sweep Texas. They're very good with a very good pitching. I was really proud of this team and their fight and their hunger to just want to walk off victorious."
OU dominated the contest, but it was Texas who got on the board first for the third straight day.
In UT's second at-bat, Longhorn center fielder Mia Scott crushed Nicole May’s delivery, roping a solo shot out of the entire complex to put Texas up 1-0.
May rebounded to get out of the inning, giving her offense a chance to get to work.
Oklahoma got the best of Texas starter Sophia Simpson, loading up the bases in three straight at-bats.
With Saturday’s game-winner Kinzie Hansen ready to step in, Longhorn coach Mike White took a trip to the circle to replace Simpson with Mac Morgan, drawing more boos from the OU crowd.
Morgan won the battle with Hansen, inducing a double-play ball up the middle, but Coleman was able to cross home plate to tie the contest.
In the second inning, Oklahoma got the best of Morgan.
Cydney Sanders reached base with a single, and Rylie Boone drew a walk to bring Jennings up with two outs.
Jennings connected on the 1-1 pitch, looping a ball high into the air toward right-center field.
The wind helped push the ball a few feet past the fence, putting the Sooners on top 4-1.
"This weekend," Gasso said, "I felt like Tiare and specifically (Rylie) Boone were kind of the engines that made this thing go."
After the game, Jennings said she didn’t do anything different this weekend, and she let the game come to her. The strategy paid off, as Jennings was 4-for-4 at the plate with four RBIs.
“I was just trusting in the game plan,” she said. “Being aggressive. Playing free and just knowing that I have someone in front of me and behind me who is gonna do the same exact things.
“So there's no pressure. Just passing the bat along and letting us do our thing."
A walk from Haley Lee and single by Hansen chased Morgan out of the game, but Citlaly Gutierrez got out of the jam to send the game to the third inning.
Just like her predecessors, Gutierrez’s success was short lived.
Back-to-back errors by Longhorn shortstop Viviana Martinez allowed Alyssa Brito to score, and Alynah Torres got all the way to third when Sanders grounded out.
Gutierrez then plunked Boone, and Jayda Coleman surprised Texas with a perfectly placed bunt to bring Torres home while reaching first base safely.
While the Longhorns tried to tag Torres out at home, Boone thought she could swipe third, but she was thrown out after her slide took her beyond the bag.
Coleman calmly took second when the Longhorns made the play on Boone at third, meaning that Jennings’ single in the ensuing at-bat was enough to drive in Coleman, putting the Sooners up 7-1.
Lee then blasted her eighth home run of the year, capping off the five-run frame and putting Texas in danger of being run-ruled.
The Longhorns responded in the fourth, however, as Lou Gilbert’s RBI single brought Martinez home, who initially led the inning off by reaching on an error.
Texas finally kept the Sooners off the board, holding OU scoreless in the bottom of the fourth inning, but then proceedings ground to a halt as the game entered a 30-minute lightning delay for a storm that skirted around Marita Hynes.
“We wanted to keep going,” Jennings said about the stoppage of play. “You saw us go out there a bit early. We just wanted to get back on the field and get that momentum back.
“But it was definitely just something that we wanted to keep going and keep playing for sure.”
The delay didn’t slow May down, as she worked around a pair of runners to keep Texas from adding another run in the fifth.
Oklahoma couldn’t cash in on a pair of two-out singles from Jennings and Lee in the fifth inning, as the Sooners needed just a single run to end the game early.
Cool as ever, May allowed six hits and the pair of runs while striking out eight Longhorns and walking a pair. In 59 1/3 innings this season, May has only allowed five total runs, continuing her strong junior campaign.
“Nicole May threw extremely well with eight strikeouts and just keeping the ball on the ground for the most part,” Gasso said. “One pitch got out on her. Which is not unheard of. It happens.
“When you're facing a good hitting team like Texas, they are good. They have a lot of weapons. You can feel that. But Nicole may had a good handle on ... feeding our infield ground balls.”
Gasso brought Jordy Bahl in with one out and a runner on first in the sixth inning to push OU across the finish line.
Sanders finished the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, doubling to the wall to score pinch-runner Avery Hodge and force the run-rule.
The entire team mobbed Sanders after the game, as she’s battled through plenty of adversity in her sophomore season.
“She’s been struggling a bit,” Gasso said. “And it’s hard when you’re a freshman and you just have an elite season and you come back the next year and you think it’s supposed to just happen like that again. And then if it isn’t you start trying harder, working harder where things aren’t as natural.
“But I feel like she's starting to come out of this some and gain her confidence. I saw Boone in her ear a lot this weekend, specifically today. I just hope that really opens up the door for her. We were in the locker room and we kind of praised her and she's clapping for herself so that's always good.”
Jennings and Lee both finished the contest perfect at the plate, with Lee ending up 2-for-2 with two RBIs and two walks.
The Sooners won’t have a midweek matchup this week, as they’ll host the Texas Tech Red Raiders in their next Big 12 series on Thursday.
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